Can a ameraucana chicken change it's egg color?

[dkosh]

I have an ameraucana chicken who is currently in my chicken hospital. She must have had an impacted crop and opened herself up. So I fixed her and have had her in her own pen. Now she hasn't stopped laying eggs but they were brown. Disappointing but an egg just the same. Last week she started laying pretty blue eggs. I didn't think they changed their egg colors. But now I'm not sure. Has anyone else heard of this?

 

[Coopacabana]

I'm almost certain that's quite impossible. Do you have any other ameraucanas?

 

[dkosh]

That's what I thought too. I have about 20. They are cage free and I have about 250 chickens so I never really know who lays what on any given day. So when she was laying brown eggs I figured oh well at least she is laying nice size eggs. Then now they are blue. She has been alone because of her injury so I'm puzzled. Maybe I'm crazy. My DH would say that was more like it.

 

[Den in Penn]

Unless you had her isolated before or trap nested, I think you may have been mistaken about what she was laying. The egg color doesn't change. She may be one of those that goes in and out nests several times before she lays.

 

[Tikkijane]

I know what you mean- we've got one EE who would be in a nesting box for a significant amount of time. When the girls would check, there would be a brown egg, but I swear she was laying light olive eggs! And then at the end of those days, we'd often find a mystery light olive egg. We had many arguments about this, lol. I think she would be in and out of the nesting box, and then would finally sneak in, lay her green one, and then dash out. I've actually thought about an egg cam to see if we could catch her in the act, but haven't quite taken that leap.

Congratulations on the blue eggs!

 

[Coopacabana]

well on the olive egger thread they are saying they CAN change color!

 

[Tikkijane]

well on the olive egger thread they are saying they CAN change color!

Interesting! I'll try to hunt it down, but do you have a link?

 

[MyHappyChicks]

I have an Americana that did the same thing to me. She laid a light Brown almost pinkish white egg. She always laid blue up to that point. Stress can make a bird change color and give you soft shelled eggs. She changed back gradually over a weeks time and never did it again. I know it was her as she was in what I call our BETTY FORD CLINIC going for detox and R & R after getting slashed by one of our young boys. I never thought they could change colors but she did.

 

[Tikkijane]

I have an Americana that did the same thing to me. She laid a light Brown almost pinkish white egg. She always laid blue up to that point. Stress can make a bird change color and give you soft shelled eggs. She changed back gradually over a weeks time and never did it again. I know it was her as she was in what I call our BETTY FORD CLINIC going for detox and R & R after getting slashed by one of our young boys. I never thought they could change colors but she did.

Do you have pics??? I did find the thread on the olive eggers, too, fwiw...........

 

[AllTheseCreatures]

I have some anedotal evidence to offer too. I have four easter eggers and they all used to lay pale blue eggs, now they lay olive colored eggs. I just attributed it to age. I haven't seen this kind of color change in the other hens who lay different shades of brown or white.

ETA:
I want to add this change came after they molted.